Interpretation ID: nht93-1.50

DATE: February 26, 1993

FROM: Vincent Schulze -- Chief, Motor Carrier Inspection and Investigation, State of New Jersey, Department of Transportation

TO: Ron Havelar -- Office of Motor Carrier Standards, Federal Highway Administration

COPYEE: D. Webb

TITLE: RE: FMVSS No. 217 Bus Emergency Exits MC 83-93

ATTACHMT: Attached to letter dated 6-2-93 from John Womack to Vincent Schulze (A41; Std. 217).

TEXT: Questions have arisen as to the interpretation of a position of FMVSS 217 pertaining to emergency exits on buses.

This office has always defined an emergency exit on a bus as a window or door that must open PERPENDICULAR to the surface of a bus, such as a car door, for example.

A bus company has presented a bus to this Department for inspection which has side windows that SLIDE OPEN as opposed to opening PERPENDICULAR to the bus surface. This office has rejected the bus for not meeting the requirements of FMVSS 217 (S5.4) which states that the push-out window or other emergency exit shall ... be manually extendable .....

My question is this -- can a bus meet the requirements of FMVSS 217 by having side sliding windows?

Thank you for your anticipated response.